Sunday, March 9, 2014

Thor - The Dark World

You know, I do enjoy the draaaaahhhhmaaa (that's drama pronounced as a Brit would) of the prestigious films nominated during Award season - but truly when I'm looking for entertainment, I like big budget sci-fi/adventure/comic book heroes. Though purely fluff on the dramatic scale, as escapist fun, these movies RULE!!!

I don't know about you, but in my life, these days especially, I need a good escape from reality now and then for my own sanity (or lack thereof).

So I have been indulging in a 72 hour ppv rental of Thor - The Dark World. I've watched it daily since Friday and enjoyed every minute of it!

Comcast generously has 48 - 72 hour rentals on ppv films. That's a good thing they do. The thing they don't do so well is spring forward for daylight savings time. I doubted my own sanity this morning when I woke to find the cable box time on Eastern Standard Time. You don't want to know what it's like to try to explain the problem to a somewhat confused elderly person who relies on his cable boxes to know the right time. But that's another story...

Thor - The Dark World is a rip-snorter of an adventure - fast paced and colorful. The talented cast brings it to vivid life - the special effects are great.

The cast includes all the originals from the franchise.

Chris Hemsworth makes a gorgeous, hunky Thor with his trademark silver hammer. Wait, I thought that was Maxwell's Silver Hammer--like the Beatles' song? You want me to sing it for you? No? Sheesh everybody's a critic! Anyway, Hemsworth is every maiden's dream of a big strong hero, in spite of the fact that he's wearing more mascara than I do. He's gorgeous even without the eye make-up.

Natalie Portman returns as Dr. Jane Foster - She's beautiful, intelligent, and spunky - quite a combination and the typical comic book action heroine. She and Hemsworth portray some fireworks together on screen, although I was shocked to learn that the final kiss the characters share was done by Hemsworth's wife, as Ms. Portman had scheduling conflicts.

Kat Dennings returns as Jane's intern. She brings comedy to the film with expletive laced commentary and a tendency to butt in at inopportune moments.

Anthony Hopkins once again portrays Odin, Thor's father. He brings his considerable talents to the role of the King of Asgard.

Rene Russo returns as Frigga, his queen and Thor's mother. I'm partial to her, always have been. She reminds me of a good friend of mine in Austin.

Idris Elba (sigh) returns as Heimdall, the guardian of Asgard - He is one of my favorite actors in recent memory. A versatile actor, he is also known for playing the late Nelson Mandela in a film from 2013, (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar) as well as the damaged detective, Luther, on the BBC series of the same name to name only a couple of his notable roles.

Christopher Eccleston is unrecognizable as Malekith - the villain of the film. A good villain who chews the scenery with the best of them (that's theater parlance for REALLY emotes), he is scary and single-minded. Brrrrrrrrr!

Stellan Skarsgard returns as Dr. Erik Selvig - the astrophysicist from the previous films (the first Thor film and The Avengers.) In this one he is truly whacko, but there's a reason for his madness. I've been wondering about something with him for a long time so I looked him up on Wikipedia. Yep, his eldest son is Alexander Skarsgard - Eric, the viking vampire on True Blood. Nice looking family!

This film is mind candy on jet skis. It moves along with a fast pace creating waves of excitement.

Please stay through the credits or fast-forward them. There are two key scenes, one embedded in the middle of the credits and one at the end. These foreshadow the next film. One of them is a hoot. I laughed like an idiot the first time I saw it. Come to think of it, I frequently laugh like an idiot.

If you like mind candy, beautiful guys and/or girls, adventure on a grand scale, and mythological heroes, this one's for you. Escape to their world!

It's great fun!

Now for something completely different ... I've been seeing the commercials on TV for the upcoming release of the film Divergent, based on a young adult novel by Veronica Roth. So, last week I was browsing through Amazon's suggestions for me and saw the book. I bought it, downloaded it to my Kindle and absolutely devoured it. The book and concept are fascinating. It is a sci-fi based in a dystopian society. It takes place in a future Chicago. Lake Michigan is nothing but a marsh and the city is walled off from the outside world by a fence that is perpetually guarded. Since my parents spent the last fifteen years of my dad's working life in Chicago, I know the area. That may play into my fascination with the book, but I don't think so.

I am now reading Insurgent, the second in the series, devouring it like I did the first one. Yesterday I downloaded Allegiant, the third in the series. I highly recommend these books. Naturally, I can't recommend the movie because I don't know how they've brought the book to the screen. But I'll be anxious to see it sometime.

Okay - that's it.

My last question for you is "does anybody really know what time it is?"

About Me

A Native Floridian, I lived most of my life in Texas. After many years working for various government agencies in the state of Texas, I retired. With my upbringing I'm a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, and have learned to love the Texas Longhorns, too. Hook 'em!!! My favorite spectator sport is football. Am I a naturalized Texan, or what?!!

After the last six years in my native state of Florida, I still like the Cowboys and the Longhorns. My father passed away at the end of 2015. Now I'm taking time to work through the stress and pain of his death. My poor little Shih Tzus both lost weight over the last few months. Now I'm focused on them, feeding them very well, giving them extra love and attention. We went through everything together.

I was adamant about returning to Texas when I first moved here. But after looking at the realities I'm reconsidering such a move. I may well stay in Florida.

No matter where I am, I will continue with the blog and writing my novels. I'm about 1/4 of the way through my fourth novel. But because it's healing time for me, too, I'm not rushing to finish this one. I'm taking time to breathe and watch the birds around our lake.